


Pretty

by hma1313



Series: Love is a Stranger Thing [3]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, El comes back, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Post-Season/Series 01, Перевод на русский | Translation in Russian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-08-09 13:46:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7804168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hma1313/pseuds/hma1313
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes he thinks he sees her standing at the end of the street in that ratty dress of his sister’s, the fabric torn and stained, but he’ll blink and then she’s gone and he’s half convinced he imagined it all.</p><p>//Russian translation available//</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pretty

**Author's Note:**

> Russian translation available: [Красиво](https://ficbook.net/readfic/4803123) by [Greenodium](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Greenodium/pseuds/Greenodium)

Sometimes he thinks he sees her standing at the end of the street in that ratty dress of his sister’s, the fabric torn and stained, but he’ll blink and then she’s gone and he’s half convinced he imagined it all.

He thinks he sees her all over town, in the play park, at the edge of the middle school grounds, turning around the end of the aisle at the grocery store. But it’s always just his imagination or a trick of the light or some kid that’s wearing a similar jacket, and every time, he tries not to get his hopes up, and every time, he fails.

They don’t go to the Snowball. They sit and play Dungeons and Dragons in his basement instead, all of them except Mike ignoring the pile of blankets in the corner that used to be El’s bed. Will’s back, and that’s great, but Mike can’t help feeling that everything has changed and nothing will be the same again, like there’s an Eleven-shaped hole in his chest that is never really filled.

Christmas comes and goes in a whirl of snow and presents and fairy lights, Nancy spending time in her room with both Jonathan and Steve (Mike tries not to think about that one too hard), and playing with his friends in the basement. All too soon, they’re back at school, talking about science with Mr. Clark and avoiding the bullies – it seems easier somehow, like they’re worried that the crazy girl with super powers is lurking around the corner waiting to break their arms or make them pee themselves with the power of her mind.

They move on to high school as Nancy graduates and moves to college, and everything’s fine for a while until one day Mike’s sitting outside on the grass, scribbling in a notebook when his pencil case suddenly starts levitating. He stares at it for a moment in disbelief, before getting up and looking around, desperately trying to find her.

“El!” he yells. “Eleven!”

But there’s no answer, and his pencil case is on the ground again.

He tries not to feel too disappointed.

 

Life moves on. Lucas, Will and Dustin all get girlfriends who are equally as nerdy as them. They’re all in the science club together, and there’s a fourth girl who Mike always seems to get paired up with by default. She smiles shyly, and Mike knows he likes her, but she’s not El, so Mike remains painfully single throughout the entirety of his time in high school.

By the time they graduate, Mike has almost given up hope. The others think he’s crazy: “She’s gone, Mike, get over it,” Lucas frequently says to him whenever he notices Mike staring intently into the distance and sometimes, he can’t help but think they might be right. But then he’ll see something, a falling leaf hovering in mid-air before descending to the ground, or a scrap of pale pink satin fabric clinging to a branch in the woods and he’ll wonder. He’ll wonder if she’s still alive, if she’s still around, if she’s ever coming back.

On their high school graduation when they’ve all been handed their diplomas and had their photographs taken, they throw their caps up in the air and Mike’s stays in the air longer than everyone else’s. By the time everyone’s picking their caps up from the floor and rushing off to find their parents, Mike’s cap is still floating, hovering fifteen feet up in the air.

“You don’t think -?” Dustin asks when he sees what Mike’s staring at. Lucas and Will stare too, and although Will never met El, he’s heard the stories and he recognizes the signs.

“Yeah,” Mike says. “I do.”

 

She’s in the basement when Mike gets back to the house. She’s grown up: she’s taller, she’s every bit the woman Mike knew she’d grow up to be, rather than the girl he said goodbye to. Her hair is longer, bleached from years spent outside in the elements, and she’s wearing what Mike recognizes as one of his old shirts that’s been sat in a box down here for months, waiting for someone to take it to Goodwill.

“El,” he says, pulling her into a hug. He ignores how she really, really needs a shower and how rough and tired she looks in favour of just holding her for a long while, because he can’t quite believe this is happening, that this is real, that’s she’s back. “Oh my god, _El_.”

“So- sorry,” she stutters, her voice hoarse with disuse. “Sorry, Mike.”

“It’s okay,” he says, because she’s back, and that’s all that matters.

 

He takes her upstairs, and his mother warms instantly to her. “I’ve heard so much about you,” she says, smiling. “Shall we run you a bath?”

El goes pale, but then Mike gently explains how she doesn’t have to do anything, that the bath is for her to get clean, to be safe. She nods and his mom takes her upstairs to the bathroom, where she seems amazed by the bubbles in the water and the warmth on her skin. Mike tries to leave her so she can have some privacy whilst he pesters his sister for some old clothes for her, but she cries and calls out to him, like she can’t bear to have him leave her side.

So he stays, gently rubbing years’ worth of dirt and grime from her skin. His mom washes her hair, and tells her that she’ll take her to the hairdresser tomorrow, where she can have whatever she wants done.

Nancy appears with a skirt, panties and an old NYU sweater that was either Jonathan’s or Steve’s at some point. “They might not fit perfectly, but they’re better than nothing,” she says, placing them down on top of the laundry basket. “Shall I make her something to eat?”

“El?” Mike asks. “Are you hungry?”

El nods and Nancy smiles. “Okay. Any requests?”

 

Nancy and Mike’s mom take El into town the next day, heading towards the clothes stores and the hairdressing salon. Mike is instructed to stay at home and look after Holly, who’s now ten and doesn’t really need too much looking after, just someone to make sure she doesn’t wander somewhere she’s not supposed to. It sucks, because he wants to be with El all the time, and he doesn’t want to lose her again.

They come back at the end of the day weighed down with shopping bags and El’s had her hair cut to her shoulders and dyed blonde, like the wig she wore when they snuck her into middle school. She’s wearing a new dress, pale blue with white detailing around the edges and white sneakers, and Mike’s sure that’s lip gloss on her lips.

She looks incredible.

“Wow,” he says when they walk through the door. “I… wow.”

“Pretty?” El asks.

“Yes, pretty. Very pretty. You’re the prettiest girl in the world.” He whispers the last part, but El hears him all the same, and she smiles. For a moment, the world seems to stand still, and Mike is transported back the time in ’83 when they dressed her up in that old dress of Nancy’s and they’d all been amazed that El could look like that.

Then El takes a few steps forward and presses a kiss to Mike’s lips, not unlike the one they shared in the middle school cafeteria over six years ago. “You’re pretty too,” she says, and Mike can’t help but smile.

**Author's Note:**

> hang out with me on [tumblr](http://pllsetskyonice.tumblr.com/) for a questionable mix of fandoms and ships


End file.
